Sunday, November 18, 2012

Motorin' Westward

After seeing our Florida family, we were ready to start seriously motorin' westward. We left Milton, FL by 9:00 crossed through Alabama, then Mississippi, and into Louisiana by lunch. We took a break for fuel (gas and lunch) in Hammond, LA before continuing on through Baton Rouge and stopping in Lafayette for the night.

It didn't take long this morning before we were crossing Escambia Bay into Pensacola which is the home of the Blue Angels. I saw them perform a few times when I was young because my parents loved watching them. We would attend air shows within driving distance if the Blue Angels were on the schedule.

When we crossed into Alabama, I texted the kids because they love everything Alabama. Shelby called back quickly and asked if we could Skype. Isn't this simply magic? We are driving through Alabama in a motorhome and Shelby and I can see each other while we chat.

She stayed with us until we were about half way across Mobile Bay.

I turned my computer around so that she could see Mobile. She took screen-shot pictures of the city coming into view before we disconnected.

We went through the George Wallace Tunnel under Mobile Bay which has the steepest slope of any tunnel we have ever passed through.

In no time we were in Mississippi enjoying the scenery as we drove over the Pascagouah River Marsh. We crossed many rivers and marshes today. The clear blue skies made for some gorgeous scenes along the waterways.

Soon we were crossing into Louisiana, Shawn's home state. I sent all five of our AZ family members a text saying "Go LSU Tigers" but apparently they weren't amused because not one of them replied to that message. I thought it was humorous since they are all die-hard Alabama fans..Roll Tide! We checked out the state capitol building when we got to Baton Rouge. Completed in 1932, at 450 feet it is the tallest of all the state capitols.

Not far from the capitol we crossed the Mississippi River, which always feels like home to me. So many wonderful childhood weekends were spent at my grandparents' cabin on the Mississippi.

The signs restricting truck traffic to the right hand lane for the next 18 miles certainly caught our attention. Have you ever heard of the Atchafayala Basin or Swamp in Louisiana? We had not but it is the largest swamp wilderness in the nation covering nearly 600,000 acres. Here are a few pictures, taken from the motorhome as we drove over the swamp on the 18.2 mile I-10 bridge. We'll plan to stay a few days and explore this area the next time we come this way!

After seeing those photos, you want to come on down to Louisiana and explore this natural wonder too, don't you?